Toronto Blue Jays Recall Ryan Tepera, Designate Jimmy Paredes for Assignment
With the Toronto Blue Jays needing another arm in the bullpen the team announced that it has recalled Ryan Tepera from triple-A Buffalo and designated Jimmy Paredes for assignment.
The Toronto Blue Jays did say that they expected to recall a pitcher from triple-A Buffalo to help the bullpen and they made it official by recalling RHP Ryan Tepera.
RHP Ryan Tepera recalled from triple-A Buffalo, INF Jimmy Paredes designated for assignment by #BlueJays
— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) May 30, 2016
The right-hander has only appeared in three games this season pitching 2.1 innings with a strikeout, an 11.37 ERA and a whip of 3.43. However, with the Buffalo Bisons, Tepera has been pitching well and with the Blue Jays bullpen being used heavily the past few games they needed to add an arm.
Ryan Tepera turned 9 straight scoreless innings since being optioned. 10 strikeouts, 4 hits, one walk. #bisons #bluejays
— Ben Wagner (@benwag247) May 30, 2016
In order to make room for Tepera infielder Jimmy Paredes was designated for assignment. Seeing Paredes designated for assignment comes as a surprise because of how well he has played coming off the bench this season.
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Paredes was hitting .267 with an .353 OPB in 17 plate appearances this season. Although it is a small sample size the Blue Jays will now only have three players available off the bench in Ezequiel Carrera, Josh Thole, and Ryan Goins.
Other than Carrera the Blue Jays do not have many options off the bench, especially with Troy Tulowitzki on the DL. Gregor Chisholm from MLB.com had this to say about the roster moves.
Goins/Barney were not options to go down b/c of Tulo injury. #BlueJays clearly decided eight-man bullpen is needed right now.
— Gregor Chisholm (@GregorChisholm) May 30, 2016
The bullpen got a big workout against the Boston Red Sox this past weekend with all three games being very close and forcing Manager John Gibbons to use his big arms.
Based on the workload this weekend, I'd assume Floyd/Chavez/Biagini are among those not available tonight. #BlueJays
— Gregor Chisholm (@GregorChisholm) May 30, 2016
Drew Storen also has pitched on back to back days. In other words, not exactly a pretty picture for #BlueJays bullpen.
— Gregor Chisholm (@GregorChisholm) May 30, 2016
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The Blue Jays claimed Paredes off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles and now risk losing him if another team puts in a claim. While Paredes was a nice addition offensively off the bench, his lack of value defensively made it easier to designate him for assignment over anyone else on the Blue Jays roster.
With the Blue Jays set to take on a divisional rival in the New York Yankees the team needed to have options in the bullpen. The team sits a half a game above the Yankees in the standings and five games behind the Red Sox for first in the AL East. The Blue Jays won two out of three games against the Yankees last week in New York and won two out of three games against Boston on the weekend.
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In a pivotal series against New York it is likely that the Blue Jays want to make up ground and would rather keep an eight-man bullpen to get them through what should be a tough series. Tepera should get some work in the next couple of games with a chance to give the Blue Jays more options in the bullpen moving forward.